Governor Christie has declared a state of emergency as Sandy gets closer to New Jersey.

"As we move towards what is an increasingly likelihood of seeing Sandy make landfall in New Jersey, I am urging all New Jerseyans to take every possible and reasonable precaution to ready themselves for the storm's potential impact," said Gov. Christie at the East Keansburg Fire Department.

The roads to the state's barrier islands will be closed Sunday afternoon at 4PM as will the casinos in Atlantic City. When asked, he said this does not include shoreline communities.

Once the storm gets going he urged people to stay off the roads although no roads are planned to be closed.

He also will not decide until Sunday after further briefings about closing down state government offices especially in Trenton. He joked that his daughter Bridget is pressuring him not to cancel trick-or-treating on Halloween again this year. He said no decision has been made but safety would be the overriding factor with any decision. He said local officials may decide as well.

The Governor urged residents to prepare and not assume the forecast is wrong, saying he's made the same assumption in the past. The problem with Sandy, said the Governor, is that it is a slow mover as opposed to Irene, which moved away quickly.

Christie also said residents should heed the advice of local officials "over their own judgement" during the storm. He said people need to think about what they're doing during the storm and suggested a general rule, "If it looks stupid, it is stupid."

He said that people will need to be patient with the restoration of power and praised the utilities for increasing response staff. However, he cautioned, his office will be watching to make sure there aren't unnecessary delays to getting power back to customers.

He noted that he has cancelled a scheduled Romney campaign appearance for Tuesday. When asked, Christie said he will spend Saturday night at his home in Mendham and would spend Sunday night at the Governor's residence in Princeton to be closer to the State Police OEM bunker in West Trenton.